Louisa Anne Meredith
Louisa Anne Meredith (20 July 1812 - 21 October 1895) was an Anglo/Australian poet, writer, and illustrator.Sally O'Neill, 'Meredith, Louisa Ann (1812 - 1895)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, Melbourne University Press, 1974, pp 239-240. Retrieved 2009-10-07 Life She was born 'Louisa Anne Twamley '''in Birmingham, England, the daughter of Thomas Twamley and Louisa Ann (Meredith). She was educated mainly by her mother. In 1835 she published a volume, ''Poems, which was reviewed favourably. This was followed by The Romance of Nature (1836, third edition 1839), mostly in verse. Another volume was published in 1839, [http://openlibrary.org/b/OL14503127M/annual_of_British_landscape_scenery. The Annual of British Landscape Scenery] at Open Library, subtitled An autumn ramble on the Wye an account of a tour on the River Wye from Chepstow to near its source at Plynlimon. On 18 April 1839 Louisa married her cousin, Charles Meredith at Old Edgbaston Church, Birmingham. Charles had emigrated to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) in 1821 with his father George and family. They had been pioneers of grazing, whaling and other activities around Swansea on Tasmania's East Coast. Charles had become a squatter in the Canberra district of New South Wales. Louisa and Charles Meredith sailed for New South Wales in June 1839, and arrived at Sydney on 27 September 1839. After travelling into the interior as far as Bathurst, New South Wales, Mrs Meredith returned to the coast and lived at Homebush for around a year. By the time of his return to New South Wales, severe economic depression caused by excessive land speculation had destroyed the value of Charles' property, and towards the end of 1840 they relocated to Tasmania. Meredith took great interest in politics, her husband Charles being a Member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council for several terms between the mid 1850s until just before his death in 1881. She was an early member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and influenced her husband to legislate for preservation of native wildlife and scenery. For most of her life Louisa Meredith lived on properties around Swansea. In 1891, Meredith went to London to supervise the publication of Last Series, Bush Friends in Tasmania. Published at the beginning of a severe financial depression in the Australian colonies, this project and the collapse of the bank where most of her savings were held ruined her financially. In her final years Louisa suffered from chronic sciatica and became blind in one eye. She died in Collingwood, Victoria (a suburb of Melbourne) on 21 October 1895, and was survived by sons Owen and George. Writing Meredith was the author of two novels, Phoebe's Mother (1869), which had appeared in the Melbourne weekly The Australasian in 1866 under the title of Ebba, and Nellie, or Seeking Goodly Pearls (1882). An interesting account of her first 11 years in Australia is given in her two books, Notes and Sketches of New South Wales (1844), reprinted at least twice, and My Home in Tasmania (1852), which was soon republished in the United States of America under the title Nine Years in Australia. In 1860 she published Some of My Bush Friends in Tasmania which contained elaborate full-colour plates printed by the new chromolithography process. The illustrations were drawn by herself, and simple descriptions of characteristic native flowers were given. In 1861 an account of a visit to Victoria in 1856, Over the Straits, was published, and in 1880 Tasmanian Friends and Foes, Feathered, Furred and Finned. This went into a second edition in 1881. Meredith often wrote unsigned articles for the Tasmanian press. This was no new thing for her as in her youth she had written articles in support of the Chartists. When she visited Sydney in 1882, Sir Henry Parkes told her that he had read and appreciated her articles when a youth. After her husband's death she was granted a pension of £100 a year by the Tasmanian government. Many of her books were illustrated by herself. Her volumes on New South Wales, Tasmania, and Victoria in the 1840s and 1850s, will always retain their historical significance. Publications Poetry *''Poems'' (as Louisa Anne Twamley). London: Charles Tilt, 1835. *''Souvenir of the Masques of Christmas, and of the Old and New Year''. Hobart, Tas: Morning Herald, 1866. *''A Tasmanian Memory of 1834: In five scenes''. Hobart, Tas: J. Walch, 1869. Fiction *''Phoebe's Mother: A novel''. London: Tinsley, 1869. *''Nellie; or, Seeking goodly pearls. London: James Nisbet, 1882. Non-fiction *The Annual of British Landscape Scenery: An Autumn Ramble on the Wye. London: W.S. Orr, 1839. * ''Notes and Sketches of New South Wales: During a residence in that colony from 1839 to 1844. London: John Murray, 1844. *''My Home in Tasmania: During a residence of nine years. (2 volumes), London: John Murray, 1852; New York: Bunce, 1853; Adelaide: Sullivan's Cove, 1979. ''Volume I, Volume II. *''Over the Straits: A visit to Victoria: With illustrations from photographs, and the author's sketches. London: Chapman & Hall, 1861. *''Travels and Stories in our Gold Colonies. London: Griffin, 1865; London: Chapman & Hall, 1867. Art *''The Romance of Nature; or, The flower-seasons illustrated. London: Charles Tilt, 1836. *''Some of my bush friends in Tasmania: Native flowers, berries, and insects, drawn from life, illustrated in verse, and briefly described. London: Day & Son, 1860. *''Our Island Home: A Tasmanian sketch book''. Hobart, Tas: J. Walch / London: Marcus Ward, 1879. Juvenile *''Grandmamma's Verse Book for Young Australia: Part I. Hobart, Tas: privately printed by W. Fletcher, 1878. *Tasmanian Friends and Foes: Feathered, furred, and finned: A family chronicle of country life, natural history, and veritable adventure. Hobart, Tas: J. Walsh, 1880; London: Marcus Ward, 1881. *''Waratah rhymes for Young Australia (illustrated by Meredith, Mrs. E.M. Boyd, & R. André). London: Vincent Brooks / Day & Son, 1891. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Louisa Anne Meredith, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Sep. 30, 2013. See also * List of Australian poets References External links ;Books *Mrs. Charles Meredith at the Online Books Page ;Art *Illustrations by Louisa Anne Meredith at the 'Transplanted' exhibition at the State Library of Tasmania. ;About *Meredith, Louisa Ann (1812–1895) in the''Australian Dictionary of Biography. *Louisa Ann Meredith in the ''Encyclopedia of Australian Science'. *Photos of Louisa Anne Meredith at The McCullagh Collection. *Photos and images of Louisa Anne Meredith at the State Library of Tasmania. Category:English poets Category:English memoirists Category:English travel writers Category:English novelists Category:Australian poets Category:Australian memoirists Category:Australian travel writers Category:Australian novelists Category:Botanical illustrators Category:Writers who illustrated their own writing Category:1812 births Category:1895 deaths Category:Women poets Category:Women novelists Category:Women travel writers Category:English women writers Category:Australian women writers Category:Writers from Tasmania Category:19th-century poets Category:19th-century women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets